Bracket for back rest of article of furniture



y 8, 1956 H. SCHMIDT 2,744,566

BRACKET FOR BACK REST OF ARTICLE OF FURNITURE Filed May 10 1951 IN VENTOR.

Henry Schmidt' United States Patent BRACKET FOR BACK RESTOF ARTICLE'OFFURNITURE Henry Schmidt, Chicago, Ill., assignorzto Schmidt Mfg.C0.,Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application May 10, 1951,Serial No. 225,555

1 Claim. (Cl. 155-460) This invention relates to brackets for the backrest of an article of furniture, .particularly hinge brackets such asare used for mounting the reclining back of a chair.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a springhinge bracket which can be mounted on the frame of a chair and whichsupports the back rest of .the chair in such a manner as to permittilting of the back of the chair. in its more specific aspects thepresent invention relates to mounting brackets of the above type whichare provided with a spring for urging the back rest in one direction anda friction brake for holding it in the position to which it has beenmoved. It is an object of the present invention to provide a mountingbracket of the above mentioned character that is of a simpleconstruction and may be easily and quickly secured in position on thechair.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a mountingbracket of the above mentioned character consisting of a minimum numberofpalts to be assembled on the job. In accordance with the principles ofthe present invention the mounting bracket consists of two major partsthat can easily and quickly be secured together or separated. One of theparts is adapted to be mounted on the stationary structure of the chairand the other part is adapted to be connected to the back rest or theframe of the back rest. In the preferred construction the parts of thebracket are secured to the respective parts of the chair, while thebracket parts are separate from one another, and then fitted together.It is a still further object of the present invention to-provide such astructure wherein fitting of the parts together may be very easily andquickly accomplished.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a hingebracket of the above mentioned character wherein the brake ispermanently secured to one of the bracket parts and arranged tofacilitate securing of the brake to the bracket parts.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide abracket of the above mentioned character with stops for limiting therelative movement of the bracket parts and thereby limiting movement ofthe back rest.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a hingebracket of the above mentioned character wherein the force of the brakethat holds the back rest in its adjusted position may be adjusted, andwherein the force of the return spring that returns the back rest to itsinitial position may also be adjusted each independently of the other.In chairs of the above mentioned character the force required to tiltthe back in one direction is equal to the sum of the forces of the brakeand of the return spring, whereas the force required to move the backrest in the reverse direction is the difference between the force of thebrake and the force of the return spring. By providing for theadjustment of both the return spring and the brake it is possible toprovide a combination wherein the force required to push the back restback may be made as great as desired by the individual using the chair,while the force required to return the back rest can be made verylittle, or even negative. In the chairs of the past the force of thereturn spring has generally been fixed. By adjusting the brake one wasable to increase the force required to push the back rest back, but"such increase necessarily also resulted in an increase in the forcerequired to return the back rest to its initial position. By the presentinvention, since it is the sum of the two variable forces thatdetermines the pressure required to move the back rest in one directionand it is the difierence of the two variable forces that determines theforce required to return the back rest to its initial position,adjustment of the two variable forces, namely, the force of the returnspring and the force of the brake spring can be made to produce anydesired sum and also any desired difference. This is not possible in thehinge brackets where only the brake force (or only the return springforce) may be adjusted.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a backrest bracket of the above mentioned character which is simple andeconomical of construction, reliable and efficient in its operation, andeconomical to install.

The attainment of the above and further objects of the present inventionwill be apparent from the following specification taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof.

in the drawing:

Figure l is a transverse sectional view of a portion of a'chair to whichthe present bracket has been applied, parts of the chair being brokenaway to show a side view of the hinge bracket;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a side view of the bracket of Figure 1 drawn to a somewhatlarger scale;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Figure '1;

Fi ure 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 1 andlooking in the direction of the arrows; and

Figure 6 is a top view of the stationary mounting plate.

Reference may now be had more particularly to the drawing wherein likereference numerals designate like parts throughout.

ln Figure 1 there is shown the hinge bracket of the present inventionapplied to a chair which is otherwise of a conventional construction.The chair 1 comprises a conventional supporting frame having horizontaland vertical frame members 3 and 4 and four corner supporting legs, arear leg being indicated at 5. The chair includes a stationary seatportion 6 that supports a conventional seat cushion 8 that reststhereon. Each of the two rear legs 5 has secured thereto a hinge bracket10 0f the present invention, only one of which is shown. The two hingebrackets are one a right and one a left. The hinge brackets provide ahinge support for a chair back rest 13 that may be upholstered in anyconventional manner.

The hinge bracket 19 includes a flat mounting plate 15 that may be ofany desired shape, for instance, rectangular, and has a series ofcountersunk holes therein for receiving six screws 16 whereby themounting plate 1 5 may be attached to the arm or analagous stationaryside member of the chair. The mounting plate 15 has a circular'pivot pin18, constituting an axle pin, welded or otherwise rigidly securedthereto and extending at right angles from the front surface thereof toconstitute a pivot support for the movable portion of the hingemechanism, as will be more fully explained. A spacer disc or ring 19 iswelded to the plate 15 and to the pin 18. The mounting Patented May 8,1956 plate also has an additional circular pivot pin welded or otherwisesecured thereto for pivotally supporting an arcuate brake shoe 21. Thebrake shoe is maintained spaced from the mounting plate 15 by a shorttubular collar or spacer ring -3 that is slipped onto the pivot pin 20before the brake shoe 21 is positioned there on. Thereafter the brakeshoe 21 is slipped onto the pivot pin 20 and the end of the pivot pin isriveted over to hold the brake shoe in place while permittingoscillation of the brake shoe about the pivot pin 20. The brake shoe 21has suitable braking material 24 secured to the inner surface thereof.This braking material may comprise a channel-shaped piece of rubber, theweb of the channel being riveted to the brake shoe and the flangesembracing the movable portion of the bracket, as will be more fully setforth as this description proceeds. The rivets that secure the brakingmaterial to the brake shoe 2! are, of course, countersunk so that theydo not engage the surface being braked. The mounting plate 15 also has astop pin 26 welded thereto and projecting therefrom at right angles tothe plate 15. This completes the construction of the mounting plate.

The mounting plate is attached to the frame of the chair to constitutethe stationary portion of the hinge bracket when the movable portion isdisassembled from the stationary portion. The movable portion of thebracket includes a circular metal disc 30 having a peripheral flange 31that constitutes a brake drum. The disc 30 is slightly cut away at 32,as is also the flange 31, to provide stops 33 and 34 that cooperate withthe pin 26 to limit the maximum extent of turning of the disc 30. Thedisc 30 has a chair supporting bar 35 secured thereto as by a pair ofrivets 36-36. The chair supporting bar 35 may be of any desiredconstruction, and in this instance comprises a metal strap or bar havinga lower portion 37 and an upper portion 38 offset from the lower portion37 by an offset part 39, as is clearly shown in Figures 1 and 2. Theentire bar 35 is one strip of metal that may be forged or otherwiseformed to the shape indicated. The upper portion 38 has means forsecuring it to the back rest 13 where it overlaps the rear portion ofthe chair arm rest whereby it supports the back rest. This means, in thepresent instance, comprises two countersunk holes through which extendscrews 40 40 that secure the back rest thereto. metal is riveted to theinside face of the disc 30 as by a pair of rivets 43--43. This bar 42has an offset portion 45 for passing the bar around the flange or brakedrum 31. The bar 42 constitutes a lever for moving the movable portionof the hinge bracket. To that effect the bar 42 has a hole 46 forreceiving the upper end of a return spring 48. A center hole is formedin the movable bracket assembly through the disc 30 and the inner andouter bars 35 and 42. The assembly is slipped on the circular pivot pin18, the pin passing through the center hole, and is held in placeagainst removal by a cotter pin 50 that is inserted through a hole inthe pivot pin 18.

The lower end of the spring 48 is secured to an eye-bolt 52 that ispassed through a hole in the frame board 3 of the chair and through asimilar hole in a small rectangular bearing plate 54 that is secured tothe under side of the board 3. A wing nut 56 threads on the shank of theeye-bolt 52 and bears against a spring lock washer 53 between it and theplate 54 and thus limits the outermost position of the eye of theeye-bolt 52, which position may be adjusted by turning of the wing nut56.

To the end of the pivoted brake shoe 21 there is connected the upper endof a brake spring 60, the lower end of which is secured to the eye of aneye-bolt 61 that passes through a hole in the frame of the chair and issecured in adjusted position by a wing nut 64 that threads on the shankof the eye-bolt 61 and bears through a spring lock washer ring 65against the frame of the chair and thus determines the position of theeye of the eye-bolt 61.

Another bar 42 of This determines the tension that is placed on thebrake spring 60.

As previously stated, the back rest 15 is supported by the two hingebrackets 10 on opposite sides of the chair, the hinge brackets beingsecured to the chair with the pins 18 of the two brackets in alignment,as is usual in hinge construction.

The chair is upholstered in any desired manner in order to concealcompletely the hinge brackets. The adjusting wing nuts 56 and 64 are, ofcourse, out of view, but are accessible for adjustment.

In normal use of the chair the spring 43 constantly urged the chair backrest 13 to its foremost position illustrated in Figure l. The braketends to hold the chair in any position in which the back rest has beenmoved. By adjusting the wing nut 64 to adjust the tension of the brakespring 60, one may make the braking force greater than or less than theforce of the return spring 48 and thereby determine if the back rest isto remain in its adjusted positions or automatically return to itsforemost position. By adjusting the wing nut 56 the tension of thereturn spring is also adjusted for accomplishing the same result.However, by providing for adjustment of both springs it is possible tomaintain the tension of the brake spring 60 above that of the returnspring 48 so that the back rest will remain in the position to which ithas been moved. By providing any desired difference in the tension ofthe two springs one can thereby adjust the amount of force that will berequired to return the back rest back as may suit the desires of theindividual user of the chair. If desired, the adjustment can be madesuch that the back rest will always come back to the position of Figure1 when the occupant of the chair leaves the chair. By having a smalldifferential of spring forces the return force on the back rest may bemade small so that the back rest may return to its position of Figure Islowly, even though the forces on the two springs are considerable, sothat considerable back pressure is required to move the back restcounter-clockwise from the position of Figure 1.

From the above description it is apparent that I have provided a hingebracket for an article of furniture, specifically for the back rest of achair, which hinge bracket is simple and economical of construction. maybe easily mounted in place, and offers a w de range of adjustment forthe user of the chair.

In compliance with the requirements of the patent statutes I have hereshown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention. It is,however, to be understood that the invention is not limited to theprecise construction here shown, the same being merely illustrative ofthe principles of the invention. What I consider new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

A hinge bracket for the back rest of a tilted back chair said hingebracket comprising a mounting plate for mounting the same on a chairframe, said mounting plate having an axle pin extending therefrom, adisc supported and rotatable on said axle pin, said disc having apcriphcral flange comprising a brake drum, there being a gap in the discof an arcuate extent less than the circumference of the disc, a stop pinextending from the mounting plate into said gap and in the oppositeextreme positions of the disc being engaged on the opposite edges of thegap portion of the disc to stop angular movement of the disc, said dischaving secured thereto on one side thereof a mounting strap projectingtherefrom for mounting a back rest thereon and having secured to theopposite face thereof another mounting strap, a return biasing springsecured to the end of said other mounting strap, an additional pivot pinsecured to the mounting plate and parallel to the axle pin and spacedtherefrom a distance greater than the radius of the disc, a brake shoepivoted to said last mentioned pin, spring means for pressing the brakeshoe towards the brake drum, hand operated adjusting means for adjustingthe force applied by the 3 6 return biasing spring, and hand operatedadjusting means 2,273,428 Bank Feb. 17, 1942 for adjusting the forceapplied by the said spring means, 2,443,400 Reinhold June 15, 1948 eachof said hand operated means including a turnable member which isturnable to adjust its spring. FOREPGITI PATENTS 5 215,604 Great BntamMar. 15, 1924 References Cited in the file of this patent 414,919 GreatBntaln g- 16, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,929,471 Bank Oct. 10, 1933

